Salt to the Sea

Joana is a “pretty” Lithuanian refugee, and at just 21, she has four years of training as a surgical assistant in a German hospital. She has both witnessed and experienced first-hand the hardships of war on the human body and psyche. Joana is haunted by her conscience, which is largely what motivates her to help others. She begins the novel with the words “Guilt is a hunter” (1), and later, she tells Florian, “I am a murderer” because she feels responsible for the death of her cousin’s family. Joana is the group’s natural leader, yet she must undergo a transformation in order to evolve into a mature adult. She does this at a rapid-fire pace.

The first turning point in Joana’s growth process occurs when she finally tells Florian the story of her cousin’s family’s deportation to Siberia and likely death. Because Joana left a detailed letter for her cousin with her housekeeper when she left Lithuania, she unintentionally directed the Russians to her cousin’s home and feels responsible for their tragic demise. This revelation brings Joana and Florian closer. Another point of growth and transformation for Joana is the transition to motherhood, which happens abruptly and by no choice of her own.